Religious community against legalising same-sex unions in Guyana

The religious bodies including the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha and the Hindu community at large have strongly condemned legalising same-sex relations, in light of Parliament sending a motion on that subject to a Special Select Committee for deliberations.

In an exclusive interview with Guyana Times International, president of the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha, Pandit Reepu Daman Persaud pointed out that Hindus will steadfastly oppose homosexuality, but at the same time they will not impede on persons’ personal beliefs and democratic rights.
“While we stalwartly stand by our religious beliefs, it must be clearly understood that we will by no means intrude and discriminate… people’s way of life,” Pandit Persaud asserted.
He went on to explain that Hindus have always lived by the rules outlined in the holy scriptures, pointing out that God loves all his people but is not fond of their wanton practices, and it is never too late for gays to give up their deviant behaviour and accept the way of life prescribed in the Holy Scriptures.
The gay community has posited the argument that God loves all his people and they should not be shunned because of their lifestyles, but Persaud said that while God loves all his people, he does not condone certain practices, and he loves gays but only to change them.
Persaud believes that the cultures and practices of the first world countries are being forced upon third world nations, and said Guyana should not allow itself to become a victim of this travesty.
“I have never read in any holy book of a man who marries man or a woman marrying a woman; this is immoral and something we should not let into our society, but at the same time, we must not discriminate.”
According to the outspoken pandit, he has been a marriage officer since 1961, and to date, has never married a man to another man or woman to a woman and does not have any intention of doing same.
Acknowledging the motion of such a bill being tabled by the administration and sent to a Special Select Committee, Persaud highlighted that his organisation is open to any consultation with other religious bodies and non-governmental entities.
Asked if any formal discussions have been held with members of the Dharmic Sabha on the issue, Persaud added that plans are in the pipeline to have such talks.
“In such aspects, we will certainly have formal discussions with members of the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha and any other religious entities,” he said.
Apart from the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha’s position on the contentious issue, several human rights organisations and religious bodies have made their views known on the subject.
The most recent being the Muslim community, which said that they will continue to resist any decriminalisation of homosexual laws and practices locally.
President of the Central Islamic Organisation of Guyana (CIOG) Fazeel Feroze in one section of the media had point out that the Muslim community will speak out against any such proposal, though he is not aware of the “full ramifications of what is being proposed”.
According to Feroze, should the administration pass a law where a legal union between two men or women is condoned, then a Muslim marriage officer could be found in breach of the law for refusing to partake in such a practice.
He said that he is fully cognisant of the fact that Guyana is not an Islamic state and reminded that the Muslim community will wait and see what proposals are being made on the subject.
Meanwhile, Pastor Loris Heywood of the Georgetown Ministers Fellowship at a recent press briefing on the matter had said that the Christian community will not support any such union in Guyana and will fight tooth and nail to stop it.

Cultural imposition
He too said that influence from Western societies tend to dictate the manner in which Caribbean societies should live their lives.
“We are aware here in the Caribbean that when the U. S. sneezes, a lot of the rest of the hemisphere and the world catch a cold, but as Guyanese who for years as a nation has expressed in different ways that there is national sovereignty, we want to make it very clear to the powers that be internationally, including the so called donor community, we are aware that there is a lot of pressure on the government and the nation currently being conveyed under the rubric of the UPR of human rights. We are saying very clearly as a church in this nation, and I believe most Guyanese identify with this, hence… we believe that a wrong cannot ever become, and be raised as a standard of right.”
Accordingly, he said the Christian community believes that the creation of such “structures, not merely show where we are, but shape what we will be; in other words, if these abnormalities become a norm, if these perversions and perversities are included in our legislative framework, then there will be a shaping of the nation in a certain direction. Homosexuality is premised on recruitment,” he noted.
The body of churches represented at the press briefing (Georgetown Ministers Fellowship, Guyana Fellowship of Evangelical Students, Full Gospel Fellowship, Nazarene Church, Guyana Council of Churches and the Methodist Church of Guyana), indicated that the lifestyle of homosexuals “is not only perverse, but promiscuous and is a threat to the children, the vulnerable and those who can become easy prey in very hard and harsh economic circumstances”.
A statement read by Desmond Rogers of the Caribbean Fellowship of Evangelical Students said, “We express our love for our fellow citizens who practice homosexuality and those who are challenged with same sex attractions, while unequivocally stating that homosexuality is wrong and is a practice that is in contradiction to God’s plan for their lives and society, and is a source of dysfunction and demise.”
Rogers asserted that “no one is born homosexual” based on scientific research. “ Homosexuality is a choice that is often influenced by socialisation, sexual and emotional abuse and dysfunction. As such, the proliferation of homosexuality is a reflection of the need for healing and other interventions, rather than a pursuit of this behaviour as normative.”
The United Nations has over the years been pressuring the country to repeal its homosexuality laws as well as the death penalty provisions.
Human Services and Social Security Minister Jenifer Webster said that the matter will be dealt with at the level of a Special Parliamentary Select Committee.